


Actions Speak Louder Than Words

by galerian_ash



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Caring, Coma, Gen, Home, Shaving, gen or pre-slash (whatever you prefer!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 10:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/773067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galerian_ash/pseuds/galerian_ash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is your last chance," Barnaby said, as he held up the razor in front of Kotetsu's face.</p><p>(Takes place a month or so after episode 13.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Actions Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://tiger-and-bunny.livejournal.com/232367.html), 2011-09-26.

"This is your last chance," Barnaby said, as he held up the razor in front of Kotetsu's face. "If you want me to stop, you need to say so _now_."

Barnaby stared at his partner until his eyes began to hurt, desperately looking for even the slightest indication that Kotetsu had heard him. But no, he remained still — as unresponsive and painfully distant as he'd been for the past couple of weeks.

"Fine," Barnaby snapped, squeezing his eyes shut to get rid of the stinging sensation. "You've got no one to blame but yourself, then."

And it was true, wasn't it? This was all Kotetsu's damn fault.

Barnaby let the razor drop as he sank into the chair by the bed. "What kind of fool removes his helmet while he's in a crumbling building, anyway?" he muttered.

A gentle, kind-hearted fool. One who was trying to soothe a terrified child, by showing that the scary suits actually had normal people inside.

Barnaby could remember biting back a protest at the action; keeping it to himself because he'd thought it would be faster to just let Kotetsu do as he liked instead of starting an argument. Time had been of the essence, after all — Kotetsu's Hundred Power had already faded, and Barnaby had less than thirty seconds left.

So when the child had sniffled, finally allowing Kotetsu to reach out for her, he'd breathed a sigh of relief. The next second the floor beneath his feet shook, and a horrible noise from above heralded the roof caving in. He'd raced forward, grabbing both his partner and the child, and used the Good Luck Mode to kick his way out.

It was all very reminiscent of the time they'd saved a man from a burning building (or, rather, the time Barnaby had saved a man _and_ Kotetsu). But this time, there was no sheepish apology forthcoming from his partner. Kotetsu hung limp in his arms, even after they'd landed and the little girl had run straight into the waiting embrace of her mother.

The back of Kotetsu's head had been coated in blood, and was already sporting quite a large bump. The medical personnel had assured him that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could've been — he'd been lucky, all things considered.

But that was a small comfort when the doctors proceeded to tell him that his partner had slipped into a coma. So his wounded head healed, the stitches were removed, the swelling went down, and Kotetsu remained dead to the world.

Barnaby basically lived in the small hospital room, nurses bribed with smiles and a couple of flattering words. He was as patient as he could possible be, willing to give Kotetsu the time he needed to recuperate. He _would_ wake up, that was all there was to it — whether it took a week or a month didn't matter; Barnaby would be there when he woke up.

Still, patient as he was, even Barnaby had his breaking point.

After a few weeks of being bed-ridden, Kotetsu's trademark beard looked... disturbingly _normal_. And it was just too much, all of a sudden; seeing his partner lying in that damn bed, looking so small and still — so unlike himself, everything about the situation completely wrong. For him to lose his unique look as well, was the last straw.

He'd gone to buy a shaving kit, and now here he was — hands shaking, yet utterly determined to at least fix _something_. If that was all he could do for his partner, then so be it. It'd simply have to be enough.

And so Barnaby set to work. He methodically focused on half of Kotetsu's face to begin with, concentrating intently on getting the shape just right. His first attempt came out looking rather mutilated, so he went at it again — determined to properly emulate the style. He re-shaped it once more after that, before he was finally satisfied with the basic form.

Just too bad the patch of beard was about half its usual size.

Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Barnaby allowed the second one to be a bit uneven. That also meant it was larger than the other, but that was probably preferable to having two tiny bits of beard. _Probably_.

He carefully wiped away the excess shaving cream from Kotetsu's face, and stared at his handiwork.

It was a good thing that his PDA chose that particular moment to ring, as he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

\----

By the time Barnaby managed to extract himself from the final throng of interviewers and fans, he was exhausted. The criminals had been NEXT, which meant they'd put up a serious fight before being subdued. The other Heroes took part, naturally, but Barnaby had still felt achingly alone. He missed his partner — missed his _friend_.

It was past midnight now, and Barnaby just wanted to go home.

Which was why it came as a surprise to find himself pulling into the hospital's parking lot. He stepped out of the car, frowning. He was tired, couldn't even remember the last time he'd slept properly, but that wasn't it.

When exactly had the notion of 'home' ceased being a place?

Barnaby ran a hand through his hair, laughing weakly. There wasn't much he could do about the realization now, other than walk inside. The hospital was quiet, and remained so as he made his way through it — the night shift nurses only acknowledged him with nods and, in the case of a younger woman, blushing.

He entered Kotetsu's room and closed the door behind him. He stood with his back leaning against it for a while, trying to make out the shape of Kotetsu's body in the darkness.

'I'm home,' he debated saying, but it was too twisted and maudlin — not something he wanted to subject Kotetsu to.

"Y'know, this is kinda creepy. You could at least say something, Bunny."

Barnaby felt as if someone had punched him, air leaving his lungs in a rush. His hand shot out, fumbling over the wall until it connected with the light switch.

Kotetsu let out a yelp and squeezed his eyes shut, but he remained sitting up. _Awake_ and, perhaps even more importantly, lucid.

"Kotetsu," he said, because what else _could_ he say?

He tentatively opened one of his eyes, squinting at Barnaby. Whatever it was he saw made him open them both wide, a worried frown pulling his eyebrows together. "Hey, what's wrong? You look really bad."

Barnaby burst into laughter, but even to his own ears it sounded more like breathless sobs. Kotetsu's frown deepened, and he started getting out of bed. Wanting him to stay where he was, Barnaby resolutely flung the door open.

"Could we get a doctor in here?" he yelled.

The room was soon swarmed with people, and Barnaby gratefully stepped out. He needed a few minutes, alone, to compose himself.

By the time he entered the room again, Kotetsu was in the middle of an argument with the doctor.

"I'm telling you I feel fine," he said. "And I'll feel a whole lot better when I get back home. I hate hospitals, and if I've been here for as long as you're saying-"

"I understand how you're feeling," the doctor smoothly cut in, "but we can't let you go without monitoring. While everything appears to be as it should, you shouldn't be alone for the next twenty-four hours — at the very least.

"I can stay with him," Barnaby heard himself say.

Kotetsu lit up. "Bunny...!"

"I'm not sure," the doctor began, only to be drowned out by Kotetsu's loud noises of protest.

"I assure you," Barnaby said, "I won't let him out of my sight. Should his condition change in any way, I'll get him back here — whether he likes it or not."

Kotetsu pouted at that last addition, but it seemed to appease the doctor. Sighing, he instructed one of the nurses to ready the patient. She set about removing IVs and so forth — Barnaby making sure to vacate the room while she took out the catheter.

That done, Kotetsu wasted no time in getting dressed; haphazardly throwing on his clothes. Barnaby just barely resisted the urge to reach out and fix the shirt he'd buttoned wrong. He didn't, however, stop himself from grabbing onto Kotetsu's arm when he stumbled on their way to the car.

Kotetsu shot him a sheepish grin. "Sorry," he mumbled, "guess I'm a bit unsteady on my feet."

That was understandable, but he couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't have sided with the doctor instead. Perhaps Kotetsu should've stayed in the hospital, regardless of how much he hated it.

"Stop that," Kotetsu gently admonished, as he extracted himself from Barnaby's grip. "You don't need to worry."

"Just... don't make me regret this, please."

"I won't, I won't," Kotetsu said, waving his hand dismissively as he got into the car. "I'll be fine if you give me a ride back home and drop me off."

"What are you talking about?" Barnaby grumbled, unable to keep the irritation he felt out of his voice. "I'm staying with you, like I said." He turned the car key with more force than strictly necessary.

Kotetsu turned his head, staring at him with a look of surpise. "You meant that?"

"Of course I did!"

"Oh," Kotetsu said, voice small. "...Thanks."

Barnaby swallowed. He wanted to reply, but didn't trust his voice — didn't know what to say either, for that matter. So he remained quiet, feeling a sting of regret when Kotetsu tilted his head towards the window to pensively stare at the lights passing by.

The drive felt like it took an eternity. It was a relief to finally park and get out, and judging by the way Kotetsu stretched he felt the same. Barnaby trailed close behind as Kotetsu unlocked his door and walked inside.

"Ah, do you mind...?" Kotetsu said, pointing towards the bathroom. "No need to follow me quite _that_ close, right?"

"Sorry," Barnaby murmured, bravely ignoring the heated flush he felt creeping onto his face. "Just don't lock the door."

Kotetsu grimaced, but didn't protest.

For safety's sake Barnaby stayed close, though he allowed himself to relax a bit. Everything was going to be okay — everything _was_ okay, already; Kotetsu awake and back to his normal self. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, only to quickly disappear when a startled gasp followed by a clatter came from inside the bathroom.

Without thinking he wrenched the door open to rush inside, only to find Kotetsu looking none the worse for wear. He'd dropped a tube of toothpaste on the floor, and stood gaping at his own reflection.

"What's wrong?"

He slowly turned to fix that blank stare at Barnaby instead. "What happened to my beard?"

Well, damn. Barnaby had managed to forget about that little detail. "Uh," he said.

Kotetsu's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, _you_ did this?"

"Yes, I... I thought I'd be able to shave it in your usual manner, but the results were rather — disastrous. Sorry," he muttered. In retrospect he should've just gotten rid of it altogether, but he doubted he would've been able to bring himself to do that.

There was an odd look in Kotetsu's eyes that he could quite identify. In case it was anger, he averted his gaze and continued his apology. "It'll grow back. Still, I'm sorry."

" _Bunny_."

His head snapped up, transfixed by Kotetsu's tone of voice. There was nothing but warmth in his amber eyes; identical to the way he'd looked at Barnaby on that rooftop, after they'd defeated Jake Martinez.

Oh. Not anger, then. Barnaby did his best to return the smile he was being given, but the desire to blurt out something foolish — and much too revealing — made it somewhat shaky. So he bit back the words, swallowing down the dangerous 'I missed you' before it could escape his mouth.

Kotetsu seemed a bit uncomfortable as well, because he muttered something incomprehensible before crouching down to pick up the toothpaste. Barnaby took a step back, intending to leave him to his business.

"Ah, wait!"

He stopped, and watched with rising confusion as Kotetsu began rifling through the bathroom cabinet. After a while he apparently found what he was looking for, and spun around to present his findings to Barnaby.

A pink toothbrush.

Barnaby stared silently at the outstretched hand. "Here," Kotetsu prompted, when he didn't make a move to take it. "It's new, don't worry — I haven't used it."

"What is this?"

"Hey, hey... I'm almost starting to think _you_ were the one who got hit on the head."

Barnaby would've let the joke slide, if it weren't for the fact that Kotetsu simply wouldn't meet his eyes. His initial reaction had been right; there was more to this situation than just the obvious.

Apparently fed up with his inaction, Kotetsu thrust the toothbrush into his hand. "If you're gonna stay the night, you'll want to brush your teeth. Right?!" he snapped before turning away. He squirted toothpaste on his own toothbrush, cursing when he squeezed the tube too hard and making the dollop fall off into the sink.

Barnaby stared as he began to brush his teeth with quick, forceful movements. Kotetsu's own toothbrush was green.

A slow smile spread on Barnaby's face, as he realized that he wasn't the only one with words left unspoken. He'd cemented their partnership with a razor and a bad shaving job, and Kotetsu had done it with a toothbrush he'd clearly bought for Barnaby.

"Hey," he said, trying to keep the grin out of his voice, "do you think you could spare some of that toothpaste?"

\----

An hour later found them both sitting on the couch, Kotetsu steadily zapping his way through the channels. Barnaby had suggested he go to bed, but that was shot done immediately – "Don't you think I've slept enough?" had been his exact words, and that was something Barnaby couldn't argue with.

But the exhaustion that had fled when Kotetsu first spoke in that hospital room was slowly beginning to return. He tried to stay awake, he truly did — he hadn't assured the doctor that he'd keep an eye on Kotetsu just for show, after all. But after the third time he was jolted to reality by his head snapping back, his partner stepped in.

"Oh, come here," he said, slinging an arm around Barnaby and tugging him sideways. His head came to rest against Kotetsu's shoulder. He struggled against the hold for a few seconds — more because he felt it was something he _should_ do, rather than actually wanting to — before relaxing.

He'd begun to drift off when it suddenly hit him. It was okay to say it now, wasn't it?

"...I'm home."

Kotetsu chuckled, a low sound reverberating through the warm skin beneath Barnaby's cheek. "Shouldn't that be my line?" he asked. "Are you dreaming already, Bunny?"

"No," Barnaby grunted.

Kotetsu only laughed harder. "Alright, sure," he said, lifting his hand to ruffle Barnaby's hair. "Welcome home."


End file.
